An Aussie's travels to air shows, aviation museums and related events around the world, with a bit of aerospace history along the way!

Category: Travel

One of the better fighter designs operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War Two but not built in enough numbers, was the Mitsubishi J2M Raiden (“Thunderbolt” – Allied Code Name: Jack) land based interceptor used to attack Allied bombers such as the USAAF Boeing B-29 Superfortress. It was designed to be fast with… Read More The Survivors: Mitsubishi J2M Raiden – The Last Japanese Thunderbolt

The Aircraft Hall was one of the original display halls in the Australian War Memorial when it opened in 1941. Dark and somewhat crowded, it contains some absolute aviation treasures from Australia’s involvement in World War Two and the Korean War, including one very historic RAAF CAC CA-5 Wirraway Mk.II advanced trainer/utility aircraft. The main theme of the… Read More Australian War Memorial: CAC Wirraway – The Unlikely “Zero Killer”

Regular readers will know I have been closely following the progress of the grass-roots, community based restoration of a former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Avro Anson Mk.I (Serial Number W2364) being completed at a rapid rate by the Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre (NAHC) in the small Wimmera town of Nhill, Victoria. Since I first… Read More Restoring an Avro Anson – 2018 Update

Italian designed but heavily inspired by the late 1930’s era American designed Seversky P-35 (see my previous post), the Reggiane Re.2000 Falco I all metal, monoplane fighter was produced in Italy and first flew in 1939. One of the chief designers of the Re.2000, Roberto Longhi had apparently spent some time in the United States working… Read More The Survivors: Reggiane Re.2000 Falco I

The Seversky P-35 single seat pursuit aircraft was developed in the 1930’s and became the first all-metal monoplane fighter with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear for the US Army Air Corps (USAAC). 77 P-35’s were ordered by the USAAC for delivery between 1937-38 (76 P-35’s were delivered and the 77th was converted to… Read More The Survivors: Seversky P-35 – In Pursuit Of Success